The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 22, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Howdy, folks, today is Wednesday, April 22nd, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Managing Editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, following two weeks of controversy, a lawsuit, and the loss of millions in grant funds, the Houston City Council has voted to amend an ordinance that had limited police cooperation with U.S. immigration and customs enforcement. in Mayor John Whitmire said at the opening of Wednesday's City Council meeting, quote, we've been consistent, we've followed the law, we've protected residents' Fourth Amendment rights, and we protected the city funding. After more than two hours of debate, the City Council approved Whitmire's ordinance revisions in a 13-4 vote. The original ordinance stated police could not

Starting point is 00:00:57 detain stopped suspects with ICE administrative warrants while waiting for federal agents to respond. Under the revised language that Whitmire said was approved by Governor Greg Abbott's office, police may detain an individual, quote, as long as reasonably necessary to complete the legitimate purpose of the initial stop or investigation, and for other legitimate purposes discovered during the detention. Next, amid heightened tensions and heated rhetoric over Houston's ordinance limiting police cooperation with ICE, a Venezuelan national in the country illegally, has been charged with. murder. Last week, Harris County law enforcement arrested 19-year-old Jose Chirino for the murder of Juan Salinas after Chirino was discovered driving the victim's truck in Pasadena. According to court documents, Chirino and Salinas were both working on renovations in the same home when Chirino allegedly bludgeoned Salinas with a sledgehammer and left his

Starting point is 00:01:55 body at the scene before stealing the truck. Ice has confirmed that Chirino is a Venezuelan National who illegally entered the country as a minor in November 23. Although he was apprehended, he was released into the U.S. under President Joe Biden's administration. In other news, Texas law requiring the display of donated copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms was upheld by a ruling of the full U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, and the plaintiffs intend to appeal it again to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fifth Circuit's ruling reversed a previous injunction by U.S. District Judge Fred Beery against implementation of the law. Senate Bill 10, which requires public schools to display copies of the King James Bible version of

Starting point is 00:02:41 the Ten Commandments in Classrooms, if donated by an outside source, was passed during the 89th regular legislative session and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20th, 2025. Also, the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources gathered for a public hearing on Tuesday, covering topics related to Texas' role in the global energy industry and oil field theft in the state. The four main topics covered in the interim hearing were the implementation of House Bill's 2663 and 48, the global energy industry as it relates to the Middle East and Venezuela, and the hydrogen industry. The two topics that took up the bulk of the conversation were preventing oil field theft under HB48 and Texas geopolitical standing in the oil industry upon the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing Iran War.

Starting point is 00:03:33 The hearing was led by Energy Resources Committee Chairman Drew Darby, Vice Chair Eddie Morales, and other participating members of the committee, including state representatives Josie Garcia and Paul Dyson. Last but not least, in a series of online comments spanning several months, judicial candidate Thomas Smith has expressed his views on a past decision by the court he now seeks to join, a ruling at the center of a significant political effort to remake the court and overturn the decision. Now, Smith and his opponent Alison Fox, each argue there are grounds to question the other's impartiality should the matter come back to the courts. Both candidates are seeking the GOP primary nomination in the May runoff election to succeed retiring Court of Criminal Appeals Judge

Starting point is 00:04:18 Bert Richardson. Fox, a former prosecutor who presently works for the court as a research attorney, and has a combined experience of 20 years, took first place in the March primary. In second place was Smith, who previously clerked for an appeals court in Ohio and has worked for Attorney General Ken Paxton, both for his state senate campaign and now as an assistant attorney general where he's been for the last 10 years. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 22, 2026

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